


Herding Cats

by Dragonlingdar



Series: Octopath Drabbles [2]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Herding Cats, Video & Computer Games, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-12 04:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20157487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonlingdar/pseuds/Dragonlingdar
Summary: Olberic had been the only one to volunteer to lead in-game raids, and he regretted it each time they entered an instance.





	Herding Cats

**Author's Note:**

> I really, _really_ like AUs. 
> 
> This was written for the Octopath Traveler Gift Exchange, but I couldn't find anyone to give it to...

Olberic imagined that herding cats was easier than being a raid leader--at the very least, cats wouldn’t mouth off at him quite so much.

"Erhardt, I swear to God, if you face pull again through the raid tonight I will kick you,” Olberic said, which earned him a derisive snort through their raid channel.

“I’m the best tank on the server, you won’t,” Erhardt taunted, his voice slightly staticy due to a dying headset.

“Watch me,” Olberic drawled. “H’aanit, Linde is off Growl?”

“Yes,” H’aanit responded, her voice accompanied by the meows of the cat that apparently insisted on watching her raid.

“Primrose, no tank demon.”

Primrose sighed dramatically before Olberic heard the demon summoning-sounds in-game, which meant that Primrose had taken out her tank in anticipation of Erhardt running off and seeing if he could pull the first room of the instance and survive for shits and giggles. 

“Alfyn, you’re in healing spec, right?” Olberic asked.

“Yes, sir!” Alfyn responded, his voice echoing as a result of insisting on using his computer’s microphone.

“Cyrus, did you put down a mage table?”

“Hm?” Cyrus said, and Olberic distantly heard typing stop. 

“Mage table, Cyrus,” Olberic prompted.

“Oh, whoops! I’ll do that now.”

“I’ll put down a feast for buffs!” Tressa proclaimed. 

“Ophilia, did you take the potions you need out of the guild bank?” Olberic inquired.

“I have, yes,” Ophilia said, her voice soft and muted.

“Therion, no pick-pocketing the first boss.”

“But it has a legendary !” Therion protested, his voice clear, although a little loud.

“Let’s defeat it first and get the achievement for clearing this wing and then you can get yourself killed trying to pickpocket it in the future,” Olberic replied.

Primrose snickered. 

“Should we advertise for the tenth person?” Alfyn asked.

“Ew, no,” Tressa said. “The last time we got that Ali person who rolled Need on everything he could.”

“As we’re playing current content, I would appreciate a tenth person,” Ophilia commented.

“Oh, come on , we’ve got people decked out in legendaries, we don’t need a tenth person,” Errhardt scoffed.

“Yes, we do, if only to keep your sorry ass alive,” Primrose responded. 

“I will let mobs get to you,” Erhardt threatened.

“Yeah, and then you’ll get yelled at by your boyfriend for being a douchebag and I really, really want to see him kick you.”

“He and I are taking a break right now, Primrose,” Olberic sighed. 

“Yeah, probably for about eight days,” Primrose drawled.

“Cyrus, your friend, Odette--she plays a mage, right?” Tressa asked.

“Yes, she does! And quite well, too,” Cyrus replied.

“Is she on?”

“Ah...yes! Yes, she is! Shall I invite her?”

“Please do.”

“ _ Another _ mage?” Erhardt half-whined.

“ Erhardt,” Olber scolded.

“Mages have exceptional DPS,” Cyrus pointed out mildly. “And not all of us are temperamentally inclined to run up to a monster and hit it in the face.”

Tressa snickered. 

“Oh, wonderful!” Cyrus exclaimed. “She agreed. May I tell her our information?”

“Please do,” Olberic confirmed.

With her, Olberic felt that their raid composition was fairly decent: warrior tank, paladin tank. Priest and druid heals. Shaman--who also had a healing off-spec--hunter, warlock, two mages, and a rogue for DPS. 

A new person pinged into the server and spoke, “Hello?”

“Guild, Odette. Odette, guild,” Cyrus happily introduced.

“Welcome,” Olberic said, trying to sound as, well, welcoming as possible. “Have you run this raid before?”

“I haven’t run any raid ever, but I feel that if Cyrus can do it, I can as well,” Odette quipped. 

_ Wonderful, got another Personality _ , Olberic sighed internally.

“Great. I’m sure you’ll do fine, and please don’t hesitate to ask questions,” Olberic said.

In a private, in-game chat, Olberic typed to Erhardt: BEHAVE.

To which Erhardt responded with: /kiss

_ That man is going to be the death of me in game and out of game _ , Olberic decided for the umpteenth time. 

“Who else besides Cyrus and I have read up on this wing?” Olberic asked.

As usual, the silence was deafening.

Olberic sighed. “Okay. I’ll explain as we make our way there. All buffs we can possibly have up?”

There was a ragged chorus of ‘Yes,’ so Olberic nodded to himself and said, “Then let’s get going.”

Erhardt, naturally, was the first one into the instance.

“So, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself, Odette?” Olberic said as he stared at the loading screen. “Cyrus has spoken highly of your skill, but little else.”

“Not surprised,” Odette drawled.

Olberic brushed up on boss tactics while Odette introduced herself, and was relieved to see that, upon zoning in, neither Therion nor Erhardt had pulled anything. 

_ Small mercies _ , Olberic decided. After a break down of the instance in general, Olberic said: “Okay. Heading right first.”

“Why? I heard that the boss to the left has better loot,” Therion said.

“And will call the other bosses to themself upon hitting its second phase,” Olberic responded. “To the right, first, please.”

Therion grumbled and stealthed to the right, the rest of the group following. 

“There are going to be a few pats that need to be CC’d so could I have an ice trap from you H’aanit? The casters are--”

“The ones with glowing staves?” H’aanit cut in as she lined up the ice trap.

“Yes,” Olberic said. “Cyrus, can you polymorph the healer?”

“Of course!”

“You have two mages now who can polymorph,” Odette pointed out.

“I know, but for now we only need one,” Olberic said as the enemy healer promptly turned into a penguin as the caster was encased in a block of ice. “Alright, I’m going to be pulling back here and--oh god  _ damnit _ , Erhardt!”

Erhardt had charged forward and aggroed everything that wasn’t CC’d. The fact that he hadn’t immediately died spoke to both his skill and Ophilia’s reflexes and healing ability.

Olberic taunted some of the mobs away from Erhardt and kept them on him in spite of Erhardt’s best attempts to drag them back; Erahrdt immediately turned his attention to the polymorphed healer once the rest of his mob was down. Olberic held the caster’s interest and that mob was down in short order, too.

“_Erhardt_!” Olberic snapped.

“You were taking too long,” Erhardt drawled. “We now know how to deal with the other mobs that are patrolling; it’s just rinse and repeat, right?”

“Until we get to the corridor on the right, yes.”

“Maybe we can just clear the room first?” Tressa offered. “That way nothing will surprise us mid-fight.”

“Good thinking,” Olberic said and Tressa’s character did the /cheer emote.

They cleared the main room with little difficulty, which made Olberic suspicious. 

_ Something’s going to go wrong _ , he thought.

“Oh, no! I’m sorry!” Cyrus said as a veritable horde of mobs trailed behind him as he teleported back to the party. “I saw some flowers!”

“Pick flowers after we’ve cleared the wing,” Olberic sighed even as Erhardt cackled and jumped into the fray. “That goes for mining, too, Tressa.”

“Er, but if Cyrus gets to facepull one mob, surely I can, too...?”

Olberic did not like the innocent tone to Tressa’s voice and turned to see that she was trailing her own mob.

_ Yes. Yes, this is more like how things usually go, _ Olberic thought, resigned.

They had nearly everything down when Therion cursed over chat and the aggro dialogue of the pull-all-the-midbosses-boss rang out in Olberic’s headphones.

“ _ Therion _ . ”

“What? It was worth a shot! And I, uh, believe in us! Totally!”

Olberic sighed.


End file.
